Back and Forth Commuting for Work in Israel
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Back and Forth Commuting for Work in Israel Haim Bleikh Policy Paper No. 05.2018 Jerusalem, October 2018 Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel The Taub Center was established in 1982 under the leadership and vision of Herbert M. Singer, Henry Taub, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The Center is funded by a permanent endowment created by the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation, the Herbert M. and Nell Singer Foundation, Jane and John Colman, the Kolker-Saxon-Hallock Family Foundation, the Milton A. and Roslyn Z. Wolf Family Foundation, and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. This paper, like all Center publications, represents the views of its authors only, and they alone are responsible for its contents. Nothing stated in this paper creates an obligation on the part of the Center, its Board of Directors, its employees, other affiliated persons, or those who support its activities. Editor: Prof. Avi Weiss Literary editor: Laura Schreiber Center address: 15 Ha’ari Street, Jerusalem, Israel Telephone: 02 5671818 Fax: 02 5671919 Email: [email protected] Website: www.taubcenter.org.il Internet edition 1 Back and Forth Commuting for Work in Israel Haim Bleikh* Abstract Commuting has recently become more of an issue as traffic loads are increasing despite government efforts to ease congestion. On the whole, commuting should make things easier as it gives workers flexibility in their choice of both workplace and residence. The data indicate that the majority of commutes are short distances and in private cars. The result is that congestion is greater and the burden on the infrastructure has increased. At the same time, more and more workers have begun using trains as their major mode of transport to work. Even though they only represent 3.5 percent of the workers, from a long-term perspective, this is an important change in commuting behavior. An examination of the factors that influence choice in commuting mode of transport shows that the size of the residential locality plays an important role. The distribution of modes of transport shows that the patterns are similar for the Jewish population in large localities (more than 50,000 residents) and for Arab Israelis living in mixed localities. Both of these population groups make considerable use of public transportation. On the other hand, there are major differences in the distribution of modes of transportation between small Arab Israeli and Jewish localities. In both cases, there is little use of public transportation although in the Jewish localities the vast majority of workers commute in private cars while the Arab Israelis use organized transport. The low use of public transportation in Arab Israeli localities is, to a great extent, the result of poor infrastructure, as highlighted by the low satisfaction levels of Arab Israeli residents with the condition of the roads in their areas. In fact, their satisfaction levels are very much lower than those of Arab Israelis living in mixed localities. Special attention is given to commuting patterns among Arab Israeli women. Arab Israeli women in the North testify to a lack of employment within close proximity of their residential areas. This serves as a geographic obstacle for many of those women who would like to enter the labor force. * Haim Bleikh, Researcher, Taub Center. The author wishes to thank those who read and commented on this work: Professors Gil Epstein, Eric Gould, Alex Weinreb, and Avi Weiss. Additional thanks to Ram Geffen, the Madlan Company, for access to data; Yifat Shani Abuhazira, CBS, for access to migration data. Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel 2 Introduction As road congestion levels continue to rise with the increasing number of commuters, the subject of commuting has attracted more and more public attention.1 As shown in Figure 1, over the past 30 years, the share of commuters has increased by 12 percentage points.2 It is worth noting that during this time period, the population of the country has doubled while the number of commuters has tripled. Figure 1. Share of workers working outside of their residential area Workers ages 25-64 52.5% 53.9% 48.6% 50.5% 45.5% 42.6% 43.9% 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016 Source: Haim Bleikh, Taub Center | Data: CBS, Labor Force Survey This increase in commuting has been marked by an increased use of private cars, making it the main mode of transportation among workers (Figure 2). There are a variety of reasons for the increased use of private cars. Gronau (1997) points to a period during the second half of the 1980s that saw a decline in the operating costs of private cars, with increases in public transportation tariffs. At the same time, an increase in incomes led to a rise in the value assigned by individuals to their time and level of comfort.3 In 1 In this study, commuters are those who regularly travel from their home to their place of work which is located outside of their residential area. 2 The share of commuters with a permanent place of work has increased over the years, and most substantially between 1985 and 2000. The group of workers with a non-permanent place of work grew significantly from the beginning of the millennium from 3 to 8 percent. 3 The term “comfort” includes individual needs for privacy. For example, traveling on public transportation causes a loss of privacy. Back and Forth: Commuting for Work in Israel 3 addition, the common practice of employers providing their employees with “company cars” also contributed to encouraging a culture of commuting to work by private car. In 2017, about 10 percent of salaried workers received a car from their workplace (Ministry of Finance 2017). Figure 2. Modes of transportation to the workplace 19% 14 12 10 Other 8 13 9 4 On foot/Bicycle 15% 19 18 25 Work organized 34% transportation 58 60 Train 48 Bus/Shared taxi 31% Private car 1983 1995 2008 2016 Note: 1983, 1995, and 2008 data are from the Population Census and are for workers ages 15 and older. The 2016 data are from the Social Survey and are for ages 20 and over. Source: Haim Bleikh, Taub Center | Data: CBS, Population Census (1983-2008), Social Survey 2016 The rapid growth of private vehicle ownership has been a major factor in increased infrastructure loads. Over the years, various governments have made efforts to increase the supply of roads, through increases in the length and the area of roads, the latter by increasing the number of lanes. Despite these efforts, vehicle use has increased faster than the supply of roads (Central Bureau of Statistics 2018). Alongside the increase in commuting to work by car and investments in infrastructure, public transportation is undergoing changes. The recent rise in the use of rail as a means of commuting to work is notable (3.5 percent).4 In addition, in recent years there have been substantial changes in the public transportation tariff structure that have contributed to lowering prices for users. However, the impact of these public transportation changes on individual travel patterns over the long term should be monitored. 4 The data do not include the influence of the opening of the Karmiel rail station. Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel 4 The connection between place of residence and place of work raises a variety of issues such as differences in labor market participation rates among population groups as a result of their geographic distribution. One such issue relates to the theory of spatial mismatch (Kain 1968). According to the theory, population subgroups, like women and ethnic groups, are subject to spatial constraints that diminish their access to employment opportunities, resulting in more joblessness and lower incomes among these groups. Thus, according to this theory, disadvantaged populations are disproportionately harmed by spatial mismatch. In the national context, the integration of Arab Israeli women into the labor market is a considerable challenge facing the economy. The existing spatial mismatch, with the geographic separation of the Arab Israeli populations far from large employment centers, increases commuting costs for women, limits their access to employment centers, and makes the task of their labor force integration even more difficult. However, this challenge holds great potential for the benefit of the economy. Proper handling of the spatial issue may contribute to economic growth, reducing poverty and inequality, reducing dependence on social assistance, and strengthening social cohesion. This study seeks to contribute to the discussion by examining the underlying factors and processes that lead to the currently observed commuting patterns. Accordingly, the study will be divided into several parts. The first section presents the main trends and commuting patterns in Israel. This section describes commuting patterns along several dimensions: commuting flows of workers from different geographic areas, distances, commuting times, and modes of transportation used by workers. The next section presents an in-depth look at the factors associated with commuting by different transport modes. Travel behavior of workers is extremely complex since it is affected by the interaction of different personal and geographic (e.g., origin and destination) characteristics as well as structural issues (e.g., the quality of infrastructure). The third section of this paper will deal with the connections between commuting, internal migration and housing. The final section focuses on the commuting patterns of Arab Israeli women. Special emphasis is given to spatial constraints placed by residential location on employment opportunities for this population. Back and Forth: Commuting for Work in Israel 5 Literature review In modern society, commuting involves much more than just covering the distance between home and work.